Introduction

Hoysaleswara Temple located in Halebid in Karnataka is regarded as one of the largest Lord Shiva's shrines. This temple was built under the Hoysala Empire's King Vishnuvardhana in the 12th century and finished in 1121 CE. It is understood that the temple's name was derived from their ruler, King Vishnuvardhana Hoysaleswara. The temple is a tribute to the past era.

This temple has two shrines, devoted to Hoysaleswara and Shantaleswara (King Vishnuvardhana's queen) respectively. Situated side by side on a raised area, it is made up of Chloritic Schist (a type of Soapstone). Both the shrines are faced towards east direction. The temple has the divine Shiva Lingam and the shrine next to it is devoted to Lord Surya, the Sun God standing 7 ft tall.

The main hall has large statues of Nandi, assistant of God Shiva. The temple structure is outstanding and an essence of Hindu architecture.

Tourist Attractions

Temple's Architecture -

The architecture of the temple is amazing and is a perfect example of Hindu culture and is frequently referred to as €supreme climax of Indian architecture'. The exteriors of the temples have many ridges and breaks, which make a complex structure, but have superb collection of stone figures.

The temple of Hoysaleswara is mostly known for wall sculptures imprinted from the beginning of the external wall. Starting with dancing Ganesha image on southern entrance of the left side and ending with another Ganesha's image on the northern entrance on right side. Totally, there are around 240 images. Very complicated sculptures can be seen on the beams on the two ways of the entrance, namely southern and eastern.

The temple interiors are plain excluding the turned lathe pillars rushing towards the doorways of south and north. The €Manzanita' sculptures on the 4 pillars are quite elaborate making the shrine's forefront attractive. The four huge porches serve as the temple's doorways and among them only the north porch is kept open for entrance.

The marvelous structures on the temple shrine are famous as 'Sunakasi', which has a row of decorated tiny roofs on hall's top loft and gets lost. The shrine's towers are missing. The temple constructed at an elevation was to give sufficient vertical and horizontal space to demonstrate large as well as small sculptures.

The Garuda Pillar -

Garuda Stambha or Pillar attracts every visitor's attention in this Temple of Hoysaleshwara. Garudas were regarded as the bodyguards of kings and queens. Their duty was to move and live with the Royals with an aim to protect their masters and when their master dies, they also kill themselves. Therefore, to give respect to these heroes, the southern side pillar has heroes flanking the knives and cutting their heads. The dedication on the pillar honor Kuruva Lakshma, the bodyguard of King Veera Ballala II

How to Reach

Situated at the place of Halebid, the temple of Hoysaleshwara can be easily arrived from Hassan, Belur as well as Mysore. There are facilities to hire a bus from Bangalore. You can also buy bus tickets after reaching the main bus stop in Hassan or Mysore.